July 14, Washington DC Removing restrictions on US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil could create over 500,000 new supply chain jobs by 2018, according to testimony presented to the Senate Small Business Committee by Toby Mack, President of the Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA).

The Committee, Chaired by Senator David Vitter (R-LA), was told at a hearing on Tuesday that over half of the new jobs would be created by American small businesses in the energy supply chain, providing construction, equipment, supplies and services to firms engaged in oil and gas production, transportation and processing. Firms in supply chain exist in sixty different industries and operate in all fifty states. Exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from facilities already planned or under construction, currently slated to convert 10 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to LNG, will require supply chain companies to hire more than 100,000 new workers over the next several years, Mack testified. At an average income of $79,000 per year, that equates to an additional $8 billion of annual income to American workers, which will be earned and spent in local communities throughout the United States, he told the Senators present.

The EEIA executive urged the Senate to adopt policies to facilitate exports of LNG and crude oil, both now restricted by laws and regulations. He argued that Americas energy production renaissance has been the principal contributor to our emergence from the recent deep recession. It has the potential to spur substantially more job creation throughout the country, if good decisions are reached by policymakers.

The Senate is considering legislation to repeal the 1970s-era ban on crude oil exports, and another measure to streamline and expedite the licensing of LNG exports to countries with which the US does not currently have free trade agreements.

EEIA is a trade organization of companies, associations and labor unions that represent the business and workers that operate in the shale oil and gas supply chain.